Two adults and three students in Jackson County were transported to area hospitals after a school bus reportedly rolled over on Tuesday afternoon. The injuries were not life-threatening and all were released by Wednesday except for one of the adults.

The Jackson County School System bus was traveling north on Marlow Road just south of its intersection with Deadwyler Road in the Plainview area when it crossed the centerline into a shallow ditch.

Initial reports said the bus flipped over and landed on its wheels, but the Georgia State Patrol believes the bus would have sustained more damage in that scenario, according to Shannon Adams, superintendent of the Jackson County School System.

Instead, troopers believe the bus hit an embankment, which prevented it from flipping over, Adams said. However, one witness at the scene said the bus appeared to flip before coming to rest on its wheels.

“Oh my, judging by the appearance of the bus — there is every reason to believe it could have been much, much worse,” he said.

Of the five patients taken to area hospitals, all but one adult was discharged by Wednesday morning, Adams said.

An aide on the special education bus was admitted at an area hospital for a cracked rib and possible spleen damage, Adams said.

Of the students — including one who was in a wheelchair — the most serious injury was a minor concussion and stitches in the head, Adams said. The other students had minor scratches and bruises. The students attend Kings Bridge Middle School.

The bus driver — who has been employed with the Jackson County School System for almost two years — was released from a hospital, but may require additional treatment for minor back trauma, Adams said.

Heavy rains in the area had flooded nearby fields and one bridge nearby was said to be underwater. The shoulders of Marlow Road were muddy and soft at the time of the wreck.

Since Dixon Bridge Road was closed due to flooding, the driver took an alternate route on Marlow Road. The driver was unfamiliar with the roadway, Adams said.

“It was a serious accident,” he said. “School buses are about as sturdy of any vehicle on the road and it suffered significant damage.”

Plainview Fire and Rescue units responded to the scene, along with Jackson County EMS, Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputies, the Georgia State Patrol and neighbors who lived near the accident.

Some of the injured were removed from the bus through side windows. Three ambulances transported the five people from the scene.

Adams thanked the first responding units from the Plainview Fire Department for helping the patients.

This is a sign!!! Slow down!! I follow Jackson County school buses on my way to the office on a daily basis and it is common for them to not obey the posted speed limit (10MPH or more). Buses traveling on New Kings Bridge Road disregard the 45MPH school zone for KBMS. They speed through my neighborhood daily. I have complained to the County Transportation Supervisor and the Superintendent on this matter. Hopefully everyone will be ok!! Please take this as a sign Jackson County School Administrators and monitor your drivers before someone gets seriously hurt or killed.

I know this bus driver that was involved personally.And she is my child's bus driver.Accidents happen everyday wheather it be a passenger car or a bus.But you cannot place the blame on this bus driver.She does't speed on her bus and follows every step tp make sure children that ride her bus to and from school are safe. In this case you have to think how much rain had fallen and the condition of the road she was on that she had never traveled before.She loves all these children and would never put them in harms way deliberately. She and the bus helper were hurt also.Fortunately my child had returned home safely about 10min. prior to this accident but I will keep all the children and the parents,the bus driver & the bus helper that were on this bus in my thaughts and prayers.Don't get me wrong I know that there are drivers out there that do speed and should obey the laws and keep the children's safety in mind.But this one didn't break the laws and loved these kids as if they were her own and always put there safety first.

For all of you complianing about buses speeding, please shut up. If you have a cild in school you have the option to provide them transportation. If you don't have a child in school it does not concern you. Imagine being in your home with several kids that don't belong to you. It would be distracting. It is no different on a bus. I do agree that speeds should be watched, but that goes for everyone not just a bus driver. I guess you have never been involved in a wreck, but several people have. Many of them are great drivers. That is why they call thme accidents.

I agree, I have noticed them drive horrendous as well. My kids tell me of how scared they are all the time based on them hitting curbs, scratching cars and bullying thier way through the streets avoiding near misses all the time and sometimes not. The one in our neighborhood drives in the middle of the road including at the entrance which endangers everyone coming or going if they do not pay close enough attention quick enough. Its high time they are held accountable for thier lousy driving and endangering our children.

Just be thankful that no one was killed. Maybe this will shed some light on the busdrivers of this county. Some are good, and some are not so good. But we all know, underpayed. 10 dollars a hour, come on. they drive your child around . spent more time then the teacher. yes you read that right. 4 hours a day 10 and hour. special license drug test and spent more time then the teacher . until you drive a bus. you have no idea. Alot of people think bus drivers are uneducated.But in fact they are very patient people, and highly educated. really more than some of the teachers that I have talked to.

The first thing you are taught about safe driving is slow down and be cautious in an unfamiliar area. this is what I was told and what I will teach my children. I expect nothing less from those driving buses as they put themselves, the children, and others on the road in great danger. I, too, have called and complained about the bus that drives through our subdivision. It too drives at speed well above teh posted speed limit. I am sure it is hard to find competant drivers, so they get by with a lot more than they should....but, who will be the first to die in a traggic accident? Heaven help our school system if something horrible happens form turning the other cheek. Due to how the driver drives through my subdivision alone, my children will not ride the bus...EVER! I would hate to see how they drive in other less safe conditions....

first question i have for all of you that are complaining is. you say that in the subdivison the speed limit is 10 mph. do all of you do 10 mph.all the time????? i bet not. don't judge until you know what happened to the bus!!!!most bus drivers are under paid for the job they do. they have way to many kids on their bus. and they don't behave like they would at home. so with all that said how well would you do behind the wheel of a bus??? with 60 or more kids yelling screaming and doing whatever and your trying ot drive down the road and keep them in the seats.don't complain until you know all the details!!!

Actually, I do always drive the speed limit, or less, in our subdivision. It is small and there are a lot of small children who live here. It is the safe and resposible way to drive through a community. However, this has nothing to do with how I drive but everythingto do with how the bus drivers drive. I did not sign on for a job driving large quantities of rowdy children all around the county. However, if I did, I would know going into it the expectations and risks associated with the job. I do believe some, if not most of the pressure should fall back to the Board of Education. The drivers should be educated going into the position. Then, when they do have an unruley child, they should be able to go to the higher authorities and request there support in getting the children off the bus or an alternate route of transportation. There are several things in the school system that need attention. Maybe this will bring it to light some issues that everyone already knows exist. This is in no way a man hunt against that one driver. this is no way an insult to you. And, no, my children are not the ones on the buses. As I had said, my kids will not ride the bus.... Also, we may need to keep in mind, we still do not know what happened. It may have been the driver was distracted by a child, the environment, or the driver may have just been driving too fast on an unfamiliar road.... Any which way you cut it, unless the bus had a mechanical issue, the weight will fall back to the driver....

It has already fallen back on the driver. Now the assitant superintend has threaten all of the drivers of this county with an email. Just like he did to another driver and her family. Told lies and threats. Bus drivers are people too. An accident is just what it is an accident.

In response to you. I am not judging just stating fact. If you read my comment I did not accuse any party involved of being at fault. You may have misunderstood the speed limit comment, the speed limit in our subdivision is 25 MPH. The Jackson County School buses seem to be traveling more than 10 MPH over this posted limit. Most of you with the defensive remarks may be drivers. Please remember, you chose this job. I am sure you were informed of all policies associated with your duties prior to taking this huge responsibility. To answer your question, I do obey the speed limit always!!!! Safe driver for 30 years.

not a driver, no thanks But the school system is trying to down play the wreck. II was a very serious wreck. I hope that everyone on that bus already has a lawyer. school officials will blame driver. i mean probably ex-driver. i would like to hear the driver's side of this. it might shed some light. just hope the best for everyone involed.

i do not live in a subdivision or drive a bus. but would like to hear the drivers side. only fair. hope everyone on that bus, and driver included has a lawyer already. they treat the busdrivers of this county bad.

Just this Monday I saw a school bus, packed with kids have to slam on their brakes to slow down at the stop sign next to Jefferson Library, then the driver never came to a complete stop, just drove right through the stop sign. This is not just a Jackson County problem though, have you driven next to a Gwinnett County School bus. I know for a fact I could not drive a bunch of kids too and from school, which is why I have never applied for that kind of job. But if you are a school bus driver then please understand that you have many lives in your hands. If you don't like, or can't handle the job then quit.

Believe it or not, I am a School Bus Driver. I have worked for both Gwinnett County and currently for Jackson County. Actually, I do enjoy my job. There are a lot of very wonderful children who ride my bus everyday and I always have their best interests first in my mind. I have taken care of cuts and scrapes, hurt feelings, missing jackets, and even an emergency now and then. I also have to deal with the bad aspects of my job with children who are disrespectful, rude, uncaring towards their fellow riders, and foul-mouthed. I'm overly cautious with the smallest students. I have had to return children to school because no one was home to receive them. You probably would not believe some of the things I have seen and heard. I have never met the driver that was involved in the accident last week, but everyone should try to not be too quick to judge. Don't automatically think that we are all incompetent idiots that drive recklessly around with 60 children on our buses. I have had extensive driver training and we all have to complete a yearly driving assessment. I am certified in first-aid and CPR, have to submit to random drug and alchohol testing, a yearly physical exam, and I was also tested for tuberculosis. I have had many background checks, both in Georgia and nationwide. I spent many hours in a classroom situation learning how to handle students of all ages and the best ways to get the behavior from them that benefits everyone on the bus. Many people could not do the job I do each school day, nor would a lot qualify to do my job.

Let's not for get about when we are on the roads with these children how many idiots on the road we have to deal with. People running our stop signs and passing the busses when we are at a stop. People who want to tail gate our busses. People who Cut us off because they don't want to ride behind a school bus. And the cars pulling out of the schools in front of the busess in the mornings are terrible......they really need to have a school resourse officer out ther directing traffic in the mornings and sfternoons. Atleast half the cars alot of which are teenage drivers going into the high school, coming thru the school zones are speeding atleast 10-30 mph over the posted limit. We also deal with, Parents that are not at home to recieve there small children, parents that we NEVER SEE and then alot of parents want to develope bad opinions on us drivers when they don't even take the time out to get to know their childs driver, Alot of these parents don't talk to there children about bus saftey rules at home. Kids don't act the same on the bus as they would at home or school, they know we are having to watch the roads...and it doesn't help when we do not get that much support from administrators on disipline, or from parents. We do what we can as drivers to keep these children safe as we can. The majority of the drivers have children, and they are gonna protect your kids just as much as they would there own. I could go on and on about this. I don't know the driver that was in the wreck last week either, but I do know that it could hasve been anyone of us, it wouldn't matter if it was me or someone else, the county would treat it all the same, and people are all gonna have there negative opinions on school bus drivers.

iT'S ABOUT TIME PEOPLE STAND UP FOR THE BUS DRIVERS OF THIS COUNTY. tHE BUS DRIVERS IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM ARE THE ONLY ONES THAT NEVER GETS A RAISE, AWARD, NOTHING BUT BLAME. lISTEN TO SUNNY PERDUE. DID HE MENTION A DRIVER. DON'T THINK SO. i SAY BUSDRIVER'S UNION. I HOPE ALL THE BUSDRIVER ASK THEIR BOSS, THIS QUESTION. sHE WILL PROBABLY ACT STUPID AS USUAL. JUST TRYING TO MAKE IT TO RETIRE. CAN'T ROCK THE BOAT. NICE TO YOUR FACE. TWO FACE, WE ALL KNOW THAT.

I too am a bus driver! Thanks to those of you have taken
a stand for bus drivers. We have one of the hardest jobs
in the school system. There are times when we hear stories
so sad that we cry, we break-up fights, deal with unruly
kids and give advise when asked. I don't do it for the
pay, insurance or to just have something to do. I do
it because somewhere along the line I might make a
difference in a childs life. I take my job very seriously.
And I treat my kids on my bus with respect regardless of how they
act!! Therefore, my kids on my bus respect me.
To those of you who have chosen to "bash" bus drivers,
I'm sure that Jackson County and surrounding counties
are accepting applications for bus drivers, go apply!

well its about time. to get change,you have to stand up and be heard. fist step taken. now call meetings. tell all the drivers. they can't fire everyone. If they do let the teachers drive the kids to school, since they so educated. if they put down a driver for their record. then look at that person record. probably not so good.

well for the record i'm not a bus driver..so the comment that i choose the job. doesn't apply to me!!!but on that note i do know alot of bus drivers. they are good hardworking people,they have kids,the work other jobs,the have educations some more than you would think..they are not stupid idiots!!! do you really think they just hand over the keys to a bus to just anyone?? and these people see more of kids and care for them as if they were there own kids..so before we call names and judge a bus driver wait until the school tells what happened...i bet if half of you tried to become bus drivers you probally couldn't pass the test or your driving records would prevent you from it...have a great day!!!

i didn't start this blog, but it's about time people stand up for theirselves. The other person was right, union. past due. it's the only way for the drivers, to be heard,not blamed for everything, get raises, and equal rights. I think if the drivers go on strike, would be great. that would do. if kids not at school, we don't need the teachers. and the assistant superintendent,shouldn't put blame on the drivers. maybe next time he would have enough sense to call a saftey meeting. but look who the ass. superintendent is. if he only had a brain.

bus drivers need to take a yellow day, police take a blue monday. stand together and they will be able to make a change. have meetings and speak out. tell , tell, tell. that is the first thing. a group will make a change, but one person along, will not. if you don't do it now, it will be the same thing over and over. don't wait. do not let them fire one more innocent person. They lied on the last busdriver, we all know that. I hope that person sues this school system for all its worth. we are behind her too.

I haven't heard that they were going to fire this bus driver but the ones of you whom are defending her,like myself,I hope this doesn't happen.This driver as many others cares for the children she had on her bus and treated them as if they were her own.She put safety first and the children were not the only ones hurt in this accident.She & the aide were also hurt.She took every measure she could to keep this accident from being more serious than it was and she had done everything she could to make sure these children got the care they needed before she did for herself.This was clearly an Accident!!!!! That's what this was.For those of you complaining about bus drivers,I agree with the others that posted you need to apply to drive a bus and get the real feel of how much drivers have to put up with,and those of you whom take up for your kids that want to be disrespectful to their driver ,you need to take a reality check,parenting cource, and make your children learn there are consiquences in the real world for not following the rules.

I wonder if this driver has returned to work. If she was able, or the school system let her. They probabley will not let her. Just know from past driving with the county. Doesn't matter what she wants, but what the county wants. Been there done that. I do hope her the best. I did write that I hope for her sake, it would be in her best bet to have a lawyer. Her bosses will act like her friend to her. But they don't care one thing about her.

No she hasn't returned to work yet,the Dr. hasn't released her yet,due to the injuries she sustained from the wreck.But I know all of the children whom rode her bus,even the ones that were injured miss her very much and will be glad if & when she gets to return.If the JCSB fires her due to the accident or has fired anyone in the past for an accident that was not declaired the drivers fault,they (the JCSB) needs to take a reality check & look at their job to see what mistakes they have made in their job.Then their boss needs to fire them.(the JCSB)

My mom is a bus driver and how many of you parents,give the bus drivers crap for not having your kids home on time. Get over it. If the bus drivers dont get the kids home in time they get in trouble. Would you want you kids on there for 2 hours because the bus driver drove 10 miles an hour all the time. If your kid gets sick on the bus, or you dont like the way they drive. Take your childs to school or make them walk.

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